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#1 Oct 14 2012 at 8:22 PM Rating: Good
I need new system speakers.

Now, I'm by no means an audiophile. I have perfect pitch, but I'm actually pretty content with standard speakers 90% of the time. I have no desire to replace the speakers in my 1997 Honda Accord, for example, although the left one is occasionally going out and once it's gone for good they'll need to be replaced.

But my current $11 Logitech PC speakers are the weakest link on what is otherwise a totally 'ferior system. The sound is one notch above laptop speaker quality. When even I can tell the difference.... yeah.

So I'm looking to grab a new pair of 5.1 speakers for Christmas. The catch: My entire desk is currently taken up by my dual 22" monitors, and until I can get a means of lifting them a few inches, I have about four inches clearance on the desk. Right now, my $11 Logitech speakers are resting sideways, and even then they are too tall.

Thus, I need the shortest pair of mid-level sound quality 5.1 speakers known to mankind.

Any suggestions?

Edited, Oct 14th 2012 10:23pm by catwho
#2 Oct 15 2012 at 12:52 AM Rating: Excellent
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Wall mount a good set of speakers.
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#3 Oct 15 2012 at 11:59 AM Rating: Good
I'm not sure that's logistically possible.

My PC is in the living room, in a custom built Ikea cubicle. The only wall is directly behind me. To my left is an Ikea 4x4 bookshelf that acts as as a room divider (so nosy folks at the front door don't see me at the desk), and to my right is the hallway-ish area that separates the living room from the kitchen.

The only wall is directly behind my head. Everything else is a shelf or air.

Edit: This is done so I have a perfect view of the 40" TV on the other side of the living room.

Edited, Oct 15th 2012 1:59pm by catwho
#4 Oct 15 2012 at 12:24 PM Rating: Excellent
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in that case, a couple of options. First, as soon as financially feasable I would invest in something along the lines of a Chief Dual monitor stand http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824997475 which will give you height adjustment and reclaim all the desk space under the monitors. that will set you back around $180ish though you may be able to find one cheaper somewhere. Then you could place your center, left and right speakers under the monitor without issue. If you happen to have dell monitors, you can purchase their soundbars and install them directly under the monitors to act as the left and right channels, then you would only have to fit the center.

You could also look into speaker floor stands and place the speakers next to the desk rather than on it.

I have a set of creative labs really narrow speakers that I use for my secondary PC right and left, they are pretty good and I would reccommend them for that purpose, but they have since been discontinued.

Another option to look at would be one of the sound bar systems that combines the front channels into one long bar shaped speaker. They tend to be kind of expensive, but you should be able to find a good shielded one that will fit under the monitors.
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#5 Oct 15 2012 at 9:18 PM Rating: Good
Yeah, I've been pondering a proper stand. I guess I should make that my priority.
#6 Oct 16 2012 at 3:34 AM Rating: Decent
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Creative has always had some very good, and very compact(as far as speaker size goes) 5.1 systems(as well as just sets of 2.1). The sound quality is great, and they last a while. The set I'm using now is only just starting to die, and I've been using them since 2008.
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#7 Oct 19 2012 at 8:34 AM Rating: Good
I'm eying bar speakers now.

Another reason I need to get a real monitor stand is that the cats have this brilliant plan of trying to leap on top of the very narrow LED monitors as a stepping point of getting on top of the bookshelf next to them.

Yeah, that isn't working out to well for them. They've knocked over one monitor twice now.
#8 Nov 20 2012 at 8:51 PM Rating: Good
Finally got the dual monitor stand for my birthday. My current speakers can be upright again!

Asked for a nice set of 5.1 speakers for Christmas.
#9 Nov 20 2012 at 11:38 PM Rating: Excellent
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Next up: triple monitors!
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#10 Nov 21 2012 at 10:13 AM Rating: Good
Naw, the very final upgrade will a new CPU. Motherboard can handle any AM3 socket processor, so I'm eying a fat Phenom II X6.
#11 Nov 21 2012 at 3:27 PM Rating: Excellent
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They got the octocores on sale today at newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106011
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#12 Nov 21 2012 at 4:21 PM Rating: Good
It's AM3+ :( My motherboard is only AM3.
#13 Nov 21 2012 at 5:15 PM Rating: Decent
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Kao, why are you trying to get me to spend more money? The new motherboard I bought yesterday will support my current processor just fine, but that octocore deal is tempting...
#14 Nov 22 2012 at 3:02 AM Rating: Excellent
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catwho wrote:
It's AM3+ :( My motherboard is only AM3.


Just get an old keyboard and yank the + key off of it and duct tape it to the motherboard!

That or they have motherboards on sale too! and yes, I'm a bad influence.
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#15 Nov 22 2012 at 8:31 AM Rating: Good
Dread Lörd Kaolian wrote:
catwho wrote:
It's AM3+ :( My motherboard is only AM3.


Just get an old keyboard and yank the + key off of it and duct tape it to the motherboard!

That or they have motherboards on sale too! and yes, I'm a bad influence.


But then I'd have to make sure to get one that actually matches my RAM! Since I got 16 gigs on sale over the summer and all.

I don't play any games or use any apps that can really take advantage of multi-threading anyway, so unless they change XIV's engine to do that better...
#16 Nov 22 2012 at 12:08 PM Rating: Excellent
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Ram's dirt cheap at the moment. They had a "free 8GB ram with motherboard purchase" deal going for AMD motherboards wednesday, but it has apperently expired. 16GB ram can be had for under $60 though for 2 8GB sticks.
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